Algolis



Algolis was a UNSC colony in the Algol system. The colony was attacked by the Covenant Empire sometime between 2535 and 2552. During the battle, the planet's civilians were evacuated while Marines from the UNSC Corps of Engineers made a last stand against Covenant forces. The UNSC Destroyer The Heart of Midlothian was en route to the planet to secure prototype weapons from Weapons Research Facility T12A before it was attacked. All Covenant forces perished in the attack.

Algolis was not glassed during the battle. However, since the entire human presence evacuated in the aftermath of the battle, the planet had been spared from total destruction. It was repopulated after the war during a baby boom generation of the late 2550's and early 2560's.

The colony was attacked on the 27th of March, 2579 by the United Rebel Front in an attempt to gather supplies, technology, and new weapons. They used multiple Frigates to deploy Battalions of Insurrectionist soldiers onto the planet’s surface. The UNSC reinforcements arrived to Algolis on the 1st of April - the responding battle group lead by Colonel Cosgrove aboard his Cruiser, the UNSC September. The Marathon Class Cruiser provided ground forces with heavy air support including GA-TL1 Longsword Interceptors, AC-220 Vulture Gunships and TC-77 Dropships.

When UNSC reinforcements reached the Ground they found most of the planet’s UNSC forces had been routed and scattered across Algolis. Colonel Cosgrove ordered the 101st ODST Battalion to intervene with the conflict occurring within the capital city of Canberra. Joseph Smith, the commander of the 101st on the ground, met up with surviving Marines and Army troopers from the 22nd and 23rd Infantry Divisions.

During the engagement with Insurrectionist forces, Connor Mullins, a Spartan from Epsilon Company, disappeared. When the 101st went to investigate, they were fired upon by Connor Mullins. The Spartan’s treachery cost the lives of Epsilon Blue Team and many Marines. After the 101st and the 22nd secured the city they moved to the outskirts to secure the storehouses the Insurrection had captured during their immediate occupation of the planet.

The Insurrection put up a hopeless fight against the far superior UNSC forces. The small engagement erupted into a full scale heavy armor battle - the UNSC turning the Insurrectionist armor into a pile of scrap and slag. The UNSC secured a major storehouse with heavy casualties to the 22nd Infantry Division but little casualties to the 101st ODST Battalion and their armored cavalry.

The fight on Algolis appeared to have turned for the worse when NEO-COVENANT arrived. The NEO-COVENANT fleet almost had the UNSC fleet breaching the planet’s atmosphere, but a defiant Sangheili Faction named the Forsaken came to the UNSC's rescue. The Forsaken's arrival tipped the scales into the UNSC's favor and allowed them to get to a more advantageous position.

Despite this the UNSC could not stop the NEO-COVENANT from destroying Melbourne Airbase which happened to be the largest defeat the UNSC faced during the entire conflict. The UNSC were heavily entrenched and were practically stonewalling the NEO-COVENANT forces. In response the NEO-COVENANT deployed multiple scarabs to push through the base defenses. In a last ditch effort the airbase declared "Broken Arrow", launching multiple Vulture Gunships and Longswords to destroy the scarabs. The UNSC took heavy air losses and were pushed back, but not without destroying countless legions of Covenant ground forces and multiple Scarabs.

The sacrifice of Melbourne Airbase will not be forgotten as it diminished the NEO-COVENANT’s forces enough so that the joint Forsaken/UNSC force could annihilate the remaining NEO-COVENANT presence on the planet. After their divine intervention, the Forsaken swiftly departed Algolis to avoid confrontation with the UNSC fleet.